Infamous US soldier who ‘swapped’ Vietnam War for N. Korea dies aged 77
A former US Army sergeant who deserted his post along the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea in 1965 to avoid active combat duty in the Vietnam War died Monday at the age of 77.
Charles Jenkins famously defected to North Korea following a heavy drinking session. Those 10 beers would lead him to make what he described as the biggest mistake of his life. However, it did also allow him to meet his future wife Hitomi Soga, a Japanese woman who was kidnapped by the North Korean regime.
"I'm very surprised because it came all of a sudden," Soga, 58, said in a statement about Jenkins’ death, reports Kyodo News. "I'm not myself. I can't think of anything now so I will release a comment after calming myself down," Soga told Japanese media that Jenkins died of an irregular heartbeat.
"We can undoubtedly win the war, but war involves many casualties in the process” https://t.co/qxQ2t1XuPZ
— RT America (@RT_America) December 8, 2017
Soga was kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1978. Both she and Jenkins were forced to teach their respective native languages to North Korean military personnel. The pair later married in 1980.
During his time in North Korea Jenkins was threatened by his captors, who warned him of a zero tolerance policy regarding criticism of the regime's leadership. “Go dig your own hole, because you are gone,” Jenkins claimed he was told. “I have seen that done,” he added. Jenkins was granted North Korean citizenship, along with three other American deserters, in 1972.
Soga and four other Japanese citizens were repatriated in 2002 following a state visit by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who met with Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang. Two years later Jenkins, along with his two North Korean-born daughters, Mika and Brinda, was reunited with Soga in Jakarta. The family then returned to Soga’s hometown of Sado in Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
In November 2004, Jenkins pleaded guilty to desertion and aiding the enemy. He was demoted to private, stripped of back pay and benefits, dishonorably discharged and sentenced to 30 days in prison, but was released five days early for good behavior. During his court martial testimony, Jenkins claimed a North Korean doctor sliced his 'US Army' tattoo off without anesthesia.
The Japanese government officially lists 17 citizens as abductees of the North Korean regime in the 1970s and 1980s. Five have been repatriated, though Pyongyang claims eight of the abductees died and four others never entered the rogue state.
